Apparently ending the most recent watch-what-you-say-about-lawyers episode (see Jun. 9, Jul. 12): “Two groups that have protested the Madison County legal system will not seek sanctions against a Wood River law firm that subpoenaed them to give information about their members and finances, the groups’ lawyer said Monday. The Illinois Civil Justice League and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce dropped their request for sanctions against the Lakin Law Firm after deciding they had already made their point, said their lawyer, Gordon Broom.” (Trisha L. Howard, “Seekers of tort reform drop action against critic”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jul. 21)(more watch-what-you-say-about-lawyers episodes).
“Casino Ordered to Pay Banned Slot Player $875,000”
“A federal jury has ordered a casino to pay $875,000 to a woman who was banished after trying to play a nickel token she found at an unattended slot machine.” Estella Romanski, 74, of Troy, Mich., said she was held by security officers against her will at the MotorCity Casino in Detroit after she saw a nickel token laying in the tray of an unattended machine and played it. “[W]hat is called slot walking, the practice of picking up tokens from unattended slot machines … is discouraged or prohibited by many casinos, including those in Detroit, though a rule against it is generally not posted.” Romanski “said they also confiscated her $9 meal ticket as well as the nickel token and would not let her rejoin her group.” (AP/Casino City Times, Jul. 23; Las Vegas Sun)(& welcome MyShingle.com readers). Update Feb. 28, 2007: Supreme Court denies casino’s certiorari petition.
Firefighters, rescue workers want trauma compensation
New Mexico: “A group of firefighters and rescue workers who responded to a pipeline explosion near Carlsbad that killed 12 people three years ago have filed a lawsuit against El Paso Natural Gas Company.” The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 24 firefighters and rescue workers, “says the plaintiffs suffered physical and emotional pain and were subjected to horrific traumatizing circumstances while fighting the fire and trying to help the victims.” (“Firefighters, Rescue Workers Sue El Paso Natural Gas”, KRQE.com, Jul. 1). Reader Daniel White comments: “While it is true that the subject pipeline accident was indeed horrific and killed several members of a family camping nearby, isn’t it expected that firefighters and rescue workers will observe horrible things in their day-to-day jobs? Don’t such things ‘come with the territory’ so to speak? … Firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMTs and other rescue professionals chose to pursue such careers knowing full well that their jobs involve routinely responding to tragedy.” The mayor of Carlsbad apparently agrees (“Mayor Opposes Pipeline Explosion Lawsuit”, KRQE.com, Jul. 21). Update Apr. 1, 2004: judge dismisses case.
Mississippi probers could consider indictments this week
“A federal grand jury investigating state trial lawyers, judges and a Supreme Court justice could consider indictments as early as this week.” (Jerry Mitchell, “Justice investigation may end this week”, Jackson Clarion Ledger, Jul. 23). And the Mississippi Supreme Court has issued a new rule providing “that in multi-judge districts and courts, civil cases shall be assigned immediately by a random method when the complaint is filed,” so that no one would know in advance who the judge was. “The problem is a few members of the bar are trying to manipulate the system to get the judge that they want,” said Chief Justice Edwin L. Pittman. (“Judge selection process revised”, AP/Jackson Clarion Ledger, May 31).
School desegregation’s Jarndyce?
From Bleak House, ch. 1: “The little plaintiff or defendant who was promised a new rocking-horse when Jarndyce and Jarndyce should be settled has grown up, possessed himself of a real horse, and trotted away into the other world. Fair wards of court have faded into mothers and grandmothers; a long procession of Chancellors has come in and gone out; the legion of bills in the suit have been transformed into mere bills of mortality; there are not three Jarndyces left upon the earth perhaps since old Tom Jarndyce in despair blew his brains out at a coffee-house in Chancery Lane; but Jarndyce and Jarndyce still drags its dreary length before the court, perennially hopeless.” And now from Louisiana comes word that the parish of East Baton Rouge is proposing to settle a school desegregation lawsuit that has dragged on for 47 years. (Charles Lussier, “School Board OKs desegregation pact”, Baton Rouge Advocate, Jun. 26).
“DirecTV dragnet snares innocent techies”
“In recent months the satellite TV giant has filed nearly 9,000 federal lawsuits against people who’ve purchased signal piracy devices. But some of those devices have legitimate uses”. “They’re catching a lot of dolphins in that tuna net” says one lawyer who has defended many targets of DirecTV demand letters and suits (Kevin Poulsen, The Register (UK), Jul. 17; Slashdot thread; Security Focus discussion).
Pa. malpractice insurers lost $18M last year
“Medical-malpractice insurance underwriters in Pennsylvania lost $18 million last year, according to a new analysis by the state Department of Insurance that appears to underscore industry claims that Pennsylvania’s tort system is driving insurers out of the state. … Medical-malpractice insurance underwriters in Pennsylvania paid out $345.4 million in claims last year, about 31 percent less than the $499 million that insurers received in premiums from doctors, the department said. But while insurers earned $46.4 million in investment income, they also paid $136.9 million in legal costs and $81.1 million for taxes and other operating expenses.” The actual loss figure attributable to 2002 may come in a good bit higher than $18 million when all accounts finally come to reckoning: “The insurers also put away $209.4 million in reserves for future claims.” (Marc Levy, “State analysis shows Pa. malpractice insurers lost $18M last year”, AP/Doylestown (Pa.) Intelligencer, Jul. 15).
More: reader James Ingram writes, “So what do these numbers show? Insurers collected $499 mm in premiums and paid $345 mm in claims and $137 mm in legal costs. If we assume that 1/3 of the amount paid in claims went to plaintiffs’ lawyers (actually a pretty conservative figure, many charge more) that amounts to another $115 mm going to legal costs. Add $137 mm and $115 mm and you have $252 mm of the $499 mm that doctors, hospitals and other providers paid in premiums (more than half) going to legal expense while a maximum of $230 mm (46%) went to claimants. Great system, if you are a lawyer!”
NPR appearance canceled
Our editor’s tentatively scheduled appearance tonight on National Public Radio has been called off.
EU: Hard hats for trapeze artists?
From Britain’s Daily Telegraph: “Trapeze artists with one of the world’s most famous circuses have been told to start wearing hard hats to comply with new EU safety rules. Jugglers, tightrope walkers and other acrobats with the Moscow State Circus, which is currently touring Britain, have also been instructed to don safety head wear because of European regulations covering workers employed at heights greater than the average stepladder.” Insurers apparently cited the new rules as reason to exclude coverage of future injuries incurred by helmetless performers (who went ahead yesterday and decided to perform without helmets anyway). One obvious question, which we assume the follow-up reporting will address, was whether the insurers were reasonably interpreting the EU directives. (David Sapsted, “Circus acts told to wear hard hats under new EU law”, Daily Telegraph (UK), Jul. 23).
Bronx gunman’s award cut to $9.75 M
Crime does pay, but not as richly: A judge has reduced from $51 million to $9.75 million a Bronx jury’s award to Darryl Barnes, who was paralyzed in a 1988 shootout with off-duty police officer Franz Jerome. Jerome gave chase on the night of Aug. 22 after spotting Barnes carrying an illegal Tec-9 semiautomatic and a shootout ensued: while Barnes (who pleaded guilty to assault on a police officer) denied that he fired his gun at Jerome, two Tec-9 shell casings were found at the scene and ballistics experts confirmed that they were from Barnes’s gun. The officer’s third shot entered Barnes’s back from close range. A jury in 1998 awarded Barnes $76.4 million, a record for a police-brutality case, but its award was later thrown out and a retrial ordered when an appeals court ruled that the city should have been allowed to introduce evidence that Barnes was a member of the Five Percenters gang, which preaches hatred of police and advises its members to shoot rather than submit to arrest. The second jury, this March, deliberated for less than three hours before ordering the $51 million award, payable by city taxpayers. (Stephanie Gaskell, “$51M Award Cut to $9.75 M”, New York Post, Jul. 10; Jeffrey Toobin, “Pay Day”, The New Yorker, Apr. 21 & 28 (not online); Stephanie Gaskell, “Retrial Jury Awards $51M to Bronx Gunman Shot by Cops”, NYPD News, Mar. 14; VerdictSearch/New York Jury Verdict Reporter, Mar. 13).